New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals
Starting Line-up for Mets
- Mgr. Jeff Torborg
- Vince Coleman
- Willie Randolph
- Bobby Bonilla
- Howard Johnson
- Eddie Murray
- Bill Pecota
- Kevin Elster
- Todd Hundley
- David Cone
Starting Line-Up for Cardinals
- Mgr. Joe Torre
- Ray Lankford
- Ozzie Smith
- Todd Zeile
- Andres Galarraga
- Pedro Guerrero
- Milt Thompson
- Tom Pagnozzi
- Jose Oquendo
- Jose DeLeon
Game Note: This would be Galarraga’s first game as a Cardinal because on November 25, 1991, Ken Hill was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Montreal Expos for Andrés Galarraga.
The Game
Things stay quiet in the opener until the start of the 4th inning when Bobby Bonilla leads off with a deep home run to right field and the Mets lead 1-0 in the game. The Cardinals counter with two runs in the bottom half as Ozzie Smith walks and Todd Zeile singles. Galarraga gets the first run batted in for the Birds with a groundout and Pedro Guerrero singles home the other for the 2-1 Cardinals lead.
The game remains tht way until the 9th inning when Lee Smith enters the game and promptly allows two hits and a walk and just like that the game is tied and going to extra innings. In the 10th, Coleman singles for the Mets and with one out Bobby Bonilla hits his second home run of the game and the Mets are now ahead 4-2 going to the bottom of the 10th. John Franco enter to pitch for the Mets and he shuts down the Cardinals in order to preserve the win.
The New York Mets win the Opener 4-2 in 10 innings.
Cardinals Stats
TB: P Guerrero 2; G Perry; T Zeile; A Galarraga; R Lankford.
RBI: P Guerrero (1); A Galarraga (1).
2-out RBI: P Guerrero.
Team LOB: 3.
With RISP: 1 for 2.
Baserunning
CS: R Hudler (1, 2nd base by D Cone/T Hundley).
Mets Stats
2B: B Pecota (1, off J DeLeon).
HR: B Bonilla 2 (2, 1 off J DeLeon, 4th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep RF, 1 off L Smith, 10th inn, 1 on, 1 out to Deep RF Line).
SH: W Randolph (1, off L Smith).
HBP: T Hundley (1, by J DeLeon).
TB: B Bonilla 9; B Pecota 2; H Johnson 2; V Coleman; T Hundley; E Murray.
RBI: B Bonilla 3 (3); M Sasser (1).
Team LOB: 7.
With RISP: 1 for 8.
Fielding
Outfield Assists: B Bonilla (R Lankford at 2nd base).
Baserunning
SB: H Johnson (1, 2nd base off J DeLeon/T Pagnozzi); V Coleman (1, 2nd base off J DeLeon/T Pagnozzi).
CS: V Coleman (1, 3rd base by J DeLeon/T Pagnozzi).
After Opening Day
The Cardinals went 83-79 during the season and finished third in the National League East division, 13 games behind the NL East champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
Starting pitcher Bob Tewksbury posted his best season with a 2.16 ERA, second-best in the NL, and topped the league walks per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. He finished third in the Cy Young voting.[4] Catcher Tom Pagnozzi posted the sixteenth best single-season fielding mark (tied) in history for his position (.9987).
The team led the National League in batting average at .262 but was just sixth in runs scored. Their 3.38 ERA was fourth in the league.
Awards and Honors
Cardinals team records: Errorless streak (16 games) and fielding percentage (.985).
Ozzie Smith: Gold Glove at SS
Tom Pagnozzi: Gold Glove at C